When we saw the photograph of the damage sustained by one of the six remaining cottages on North Beach Island off Chatham, we remembered the battles endured last year by George Price, the superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Price was the one who recommended the removal of five Seashore-owned cottages from the island last year because he knew they were vulnerable to the next nor'easter. His plans, however, were met with fierce opposition, not only from those who leased the cottages, but town officials as well. In the end, Price prevailed, as he should have.

The twin storms that battered the coastline over the past couple of weeks have further compromised the island. A portion of the spit at the north end of the island appears to be underwater during high tide, bringing the sea closer to a pair of cottages at the end of the island. The sea also made big advances inland on the Chatham Harbor side, with what appear to be creeks and standing water now nearly surrounding some of the homes.

Let the Cape speak on Pilgrim

Whether you support or oppose nuclear power, we applaud the efforts of Cape Downwinders, a nonprofit, which is trying to place advisory questions on ballots in all Cape towns this spring.

The ballot question would ask voters whether the governor should ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut down the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.

We do not support the closure of Pilgrim at this time, but we think a nonbinding ballot question that reveals the Cape citizens' opinions about the plant, especially in the wake of the nuclear plant disasters in Japan, is useful.

Cape Downwinders has raised serious questions about evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear accident, questions that should be taken seriously by state officials and the NRC.

Zoning and inequality

Every week or so, Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy sends us summaries of recent research related to topics in the news. This week, the center alerted us to a study titled "Why Has Regional Income Convergence in the U.S. Stopped?"

"Early in U.S. history, per-capita incomes varied widely, with some richer states boasting more than four times the average income of poorer ones," according to Shorenstein. "From 1880 to 1980, though, the gap closed steadily ... Part of the reason was labor mobility, as lower-income workers were able to move relatively easily to locations with higher-paying jobs."

But about 30 years ago, income convergence began to slow down. Research suggests that the phenomenon may be partly explained by housing prices and more stringent land use and zoning laws that made certain housing markets increasingly unaffordable for lower-wage workers.

Does this sound familiar?

The study concludes that land-use restrictions have resulted in "limited access for most workers to America's most productive cities." Movement of labor across the states helps explain about 30 percent of income convergence between 1940 and 1980. "If that dynamic had held between 1980 and 2010, wage inequality in the United States would likely be 10 percent smaller."